ASHLAND — Investigators have ruled the mysterious death of an Ashland man a homicide.

An autopsy performed on 62-year-old Frank Damiano found he had been murdered, leaving police to begin piecing together the circumstances leading up to his death.

Jackson County sheriff's deputies were performing a welfare check at the residence at 4:30 p.m. Thursday when they found Damiano's body inside the home, sheriff's officials said in a news release.

Damiano lived at 1 Corral Lane just outside Ashland. The residence sits in Bear Creek Mobile Home park, between Interstate 5 and South Pacific Highway. Law enforcement spent Friday afternoon searching the area surrounding the trailer park.

"This investigation is on-going and detectives are asking anyone with information regarding the case to contact the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division," sheriff's officials wrote in a press release.

Damiano's next of kin has been notified of his death.

Damiano was also known to go by the name Tony Della Penna, officials said.

Sheriff's officials did not release information describing the manner in which Damiano was killed. Calls made to the agency's detectives division were not immediately returned Saturday night.

The investigation is being conducted by the county's multi-agency Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit (MADIU). The unit includes detectives from the sheriff's office and investigators from Medford, Ashland, Central Point police, as well as Oregon State Police.

Anyone with information that could help crack the case is asked to call the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at 541-774-6168.